Truist Financial Corp Purchases 3,111 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,179 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,111 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.17% of KLA worth $157,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in KLA by 40.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $914.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $803.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $732.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $928.02.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $818.06.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.

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